1. Painted teaser poster artwork. No way the producers are going to have the main poster in the old school artstyle. But a second teaser poster shouldn't mess up their advertising campaign at all.
Yes, me too! My favourites are from TSWLM and LALD. Maybe with the 50th anniversary there will be some sort of retro Bond additional posters/art work. I suspect it will be a collectors PARADISE when Bond 23 arrives.
A big "amen" to those who asked for the Bond theme, the gunbarrel, Q and Moneypenny back. We've had two movies to establish him becoming Bond, now let's watch him being Bond.
I'm also throwing my support behind
- Liam Neeson as a villain... think he'd be a great one.
- Introducing the head of Quantum (not necessarily defeating him, but it'd be nice to finally see him).
- Middle Eastern setting. Doesn't have to be desertic, and they can't keep him out of the region forever (actually seems kind of silly when you consider how much Cold War subtext there was in the older Bonds).
- Tying up the loose end that is Guy Haines: I'm pretty sure they will do that, either as the main plot or as a segue into it.
Traditional briefing with M at MI6 and please no more of M treating him like a child
Moneypenny and Q return though written to fit into how the series is now
Gadgets grounded in reality, like night vision goggles or other stuff a covert ops specialist would use in real life
No hyper editing like on QOS
Bond visits ... Peru or some other place where he has not been to yet.
Well said.
Here is what I expect:
Here is what I want:
I want Judi Dench to shut up, stand down, and stay at the office. This condescending old shrew lingered too long at the dance. She's worn out her welcome. If she has three minutes on screen, it's too long.
I want literate and intelligent writing in the Ian Fleming / Richard Maibaum tradition freed from Barbara Broccoli's agenda. Get rid of amateur hack writers Purvis and Wade and hire a professional dramatist noted for his traditional dramatic accomplishments -- someone like Tom Stoppard, or a writer of his calibre.
The Bond films have always given us strong, independent, resourceful women, but don't let the female lead run away with the story. A Bond film isn't about M and it isn't about the girl he's involved with. She's important, yes, and she is to be treated fairly, but she doesn't get equal time. A Bond film is about James Bond on his mission.
Stop portraying James Bond as a callous, uncouth, unfeeling, mindless killing machine. That's wrong. James Bond is a gentleman and a Naval commander. Refined and reasonably well-educated at Eton. The son of a Scot and a Swiss mother who is raised in London. He is intelligent, thoughtful, observant, calculating, discerning, and knows spycraft. He has a moral compass and an inner decency even though he is a killer.
Implement espionage plots. ESPIONAGE. The act of spying.
Reinstate the gun barrel opening before the pre-title sequence.
Reinstate the traditional briefing in M's office.
Reinstate the James Bond Theme, or have the integrity to change all the names and call the hero by some other name.
An orchestrated title song performed by somebody with pipes. Somebody who can sing. Shirley Bassey preferred. No more nasal, scratchy punk-rock songs.
Suits, ties, tuxedos on the gentlemen.
Evening gowns, lingerie, and bikinis on the ladies.
Gambling and guns and all the ambiance thereof.
Let there be mood and atmosphere again.
Allow adult men and women to have a romantic / sexual adventure together without turning it into some kind of guilt trip they have to apologize for. No more "damaged goods" and no more "I'm so angry with myself" crap. Let them have fun. Women do have affairs and do go on adventures in real life. It's okay for the female characters to be attracted to Bond. Likewise, it's okay for Bond to enjoy women and to appreciate them, the way he used to.
No sci-fi / fantasy / superhuman / outer space stuff. Keep the story grounded in the plausible and in reality. Push it to the thin edge of surrealism and then pull back, the way Terrence Young and Peter Hunt did.
No slapstick / farce / self-ridicule / camp / comedy / nostalgia. Nobody wants to see kitsch in a Bond film. Don't give Austin Powers any more ammunition to destroy you with. A Bond film is an espionage-drama action-thriller, but find that delicate balance of tongue-in-cheek humor and self-deprecation that brought an added dimension to the originating Bond films. Keep it subtle and in check, like the originating films did.
No more of Bond behaving like an idiot and a child. No more excoriations from M. Six films of that is enough to make anybody sick. Give it a rest, for a change, will you.
Please! No more lectures on how to be a better man and a kinder, gentler spy. No bragging about how dangerous Bond is (no "I wouldn't be very good at my job if I cared" crap).
Stop breaking the fourth wall. Bond is not a celebrity. Bond is not a "famous" secret agent within the story. The notion of a "famous" secret agent is contradictory and ludicrous. A good example of this mistake is in Casino Royale when Bond violates his own cover, checking in at the hotel desk and saying "Bond traveling as Somerset." When Vesper asks why he would do such a stupid thing, he answers that they're going to find out his real name anyway, so why bother. This is tortured logic and amateur writing. Believe in the story you're telling, or go do something else.
Violence that bruises and bleeds and hurts. Antiseptic violence is obscene. When there is violence, make sure it arises naturally out of the story and make sure it counts.
Gadgets grounded in reality -- use gadgets like spice on your food, don't let them become the food or the story. The computerized desk and computerized wall in Quantum of Solace are grounded in reality, it wouldn't hurt to make them standard.
Sensible action that arises naturally out of the story. For example, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is set in a lab high up in the alps, so a ski chase is a reasonable thing to have. In Thunderball a jet carrying a nuclear warhead is hijacked and hidden in shallow water, so underwater scuba diving makes sense. We don't need to see Bond run up a high-rise under construction just because it's there. Don't let the stuntman run amok with outrageous stunts that call attention to themselves and make no story sense.
Reinstate "Bond, James Bond" along with the charming habits Ian Fleming invested him with, or have the integrity to change the name. Don't make a joke out of Bond's habits, and don't make a point out of them, just let them be there. I concede the necessity to eliminate smoking, but the rest of his habits should be restored. The early Bond films added the deadpan quip after a killing: restore that, too.
Bring back Q and Moneypenny and let them fill the same functions they did in Dr No and From Russia With Love. They stay back at the office. They lend support but are not the principle players.
Uphold the Broccoli-Saltzman principle that a Bond film should be directed by an Englishman and it should be an English-made film.
Dazzle us with a good story, dynamic action, appealing characters and exotic locations, glamour and grit in equal portions, but stop "jumping the shark." In other words, scale it down. No more overblown set pieces that call attention to themselves. This isn't Austin Powers.
Cast Europeans in the supporting roles and as female leads. No more airheaded American starlets.
Exotic European / Asian / South American locations. No more American settings.
No more putdowns of the American CIA.
Stop portraying Americans as buffoons; even Felix Leiter was used for comedy relief in GoldenEye.
Stop portraying American tourists for comedy relief.
Put Bond at risk in the field. He's on his own. Let him use his wits and stamina and intelligence to get out of trouble, or into it. Do this without making a point that you're doing it.
Keep dialogue straghtforward and simple. Less is more. Bond is not a chatterbox. Let him DO things without talking about them. Note how little dialogue Bond has in From Russia With Love. Note also how intently Sean Connery listens before he says anything. He's a good listener. And when he speaks, it is in blunt language matched with a steady gaze that holds the eyeline, and thereby, your attention.
Minimize the cell phone usage. The last thing we want is another 30 minutes of cell phone interaction like in Casino Royale, a film that had more talking than 40 years of Bond films combined.
No shaky camera and No hyper-fast editing. That's for Bourne, not Bond.
Richard
The top 7 Bond films: 1) Dr No. 2) From Russia With Love. 3) Thunderball. 4) On Her Majesty's Secret Service. 5) For Your Eyes Only. 6) The Living Daylights. 7) Licence to Kill.
Traditional briefing with M at MI6 and please no more of M treating him like a child
Moneypenny and Q return though written to fit into how the series is now
Gadgets grounded in reality, like night vision goggles or other stuff a covert ops specialist would use in real life
No hyper editing like on QOS
Bond visits ... Peru or some other place where he has not been to yet.
Well said.
I want Judy Dench to shut up, stand down, and stay at the office. If she has three minutes on screen, it's too long.
I want literate and intelligent writing in the Ian Fleming / Richard Maibaum tradition freed from Barbara Broccoli's agenda. Get rid of amateur hack writers Purvis and Wade and hire a professional dramatist noted for his traditional dramatic accomplishments -- someone like Tom Soppard, or a writer of his calibre.
Implement espionage plots. ESPIONAGE. The act of spying.
The gun barrel opening before the teaser
Suits, ties, tuxedos on the gentlemen.
Evening gowns and bikinis on the ladies.
Gambling and guns and all the ambiance thereof.
Let there be mood and atmosphere again.
Allow adult men and women to have a romantic / sexual adventure together without turning it into some kind of guilt trip they have to apologize for. Let them have fun. Women do have affairs and do go on adventures in real life. It's okay for Bond to enjoy women and to appreciate them, the way he used to.
Use the James Bond Theme, or have the integrity to change all the names and call the hero by some other name.
An orchestrated title song, not a punk rock song, performed by somebody with pipes. Somebody who can sing. Shirley Bassey preferred.
No sci-fi / fantasy / superhuman / outer space stuff. Keep the story grounded in the plausible and in reality. Push it to the thin edge of surrealism and then pull back, the way Terence Young and Peter Hunt did.
No slapstick / farce / self-ridicule / camp / comedy / nostalgia. Find that balance of tongue-in-cheek humor and self-deprecation but keep it subtle and in check, like the earliest films did.
No more of Bond behaving like an idiot and a child and no more excoriations from M. Six films of that is enough to make anybody sick. Give it a rest, for a change, will you.
Violence that bruises and bleeds and hurts. Antiseptic violence is obscene. When there is violence, make sure it arises naturally out of the story and make sure it counts.
Traditional briefing in M's office.
Gadgets grounded in reality -- use gadgets like spice on your food, don't let them become the food or the story. That computerized desk and computerized wall in QoS are grounded in reality, it wouldn't hurt to make them standard.
Sensible action. Action that arises naturally out of story. For example, OHMSS is set in a lab high up in the alps, so a ski chase is a reasonable thing to have. In FYEO a ship containing an importance device is sunk, so underwater scuba diving makes sense.
Reinstate "Bond, James Bond" with the characteristics and habits Ian Fleming gave him-- just let 'em be there, don't make a point of it.
Reinstate "Bond, James Bond" with all the characteristics and habits or have the integrity to change the characters' name.
Bring back Q and Moneypenny and let them fill the same functions they did in Dr No and From Russia With Love. They stay back at the office.
Cast Europeans in the supporting roles and female leads. No more American starlets.
Exotic Eurpean / Asian / South American locations. No more American settings.
No more putdowns of the American CIA, no portraying of American tourists for comedy relief.
Put Bond at risk in the field. He's on his own. Let him use his wits and stamina and intelligence to get out of trouble, or into it. Do this without making a point that you're doing it.
Keep dialogue straghtforward and simple. No lectures on how to be a kinder, gentler spy and no bragging about how dangerous Bond is (no "I wouldn't be very good at my job if I did" crap).
Richard
I agree with every point you make, with the following exceptions.
I can do without Q, Desmond was Q, no one else can be Q. I would be OK with an armorer, or some other type character.
I have no problem with American locations, (don't think we have had that many) if it fits the story.
The actress can be from anywhere as long as she is a good actress and I would prefer someone with a body, not the slim model types we have had recently.
Tall, dark, smouldering eyes, impeccable manners, immaculate clothing, gourmet, controlled ruthlessness.....ha ha, Hugh Grant on steroids! ) No short blond guys with sticky out ears!
Failing that..........clone Sean Connery!
"That was a Smith&Wesson and you've had YOUR six!"... Bang! Bang! Bang!
Barry Nelson, I revised my post. See if you still agree with it.
Richard
The top 7 Bond films: 1) Dr No. 2) From Russia With Love. 3) Thunderball. 4) On Her Majesty's Secret Service. 5) For Your Eyes Only. 6) The Living Daylights. 7) Licence to Kill.
Barry Nelson, I revised my post. See if you still agree with it.
Richard
Yes, I still agree with it, the more you add the more I agree. One small correction, Felix Leiter wasn't in GE, I believe you are thinking of Jack Wade, played by Joe Don Baker.
As I previously stated, I am hoping for a more voluptuous actress along the lines of a Marilyn Monroe, Lucianna Paluzzi, Caterina Murino, no more skinny models.
I would also like more glamour, fancy hotels, casinos and exotic locations, less grittiness.
Barry Nelson, I revised my post. See if you still agree with it.
Richard
Yes, I still agree with it, the more you add the more I agree. One small correction, Felix Leiter wasn't in GE, I believe you are thinking of Jack Wade, played by Joe Don Baker.
As I previously stated, I am hoping for a more voluptuous actress along the lines of a Marilyn Monroe, Lucianna Paluzzi, Caterina Murino, no more skinny models.
I would also like more glamour, fancy hotels, casinos and exotic locations, less grittiness.
Would Christina Hendricks be the type you want in Bond films?
Barry Nelson, I revised my post. See if you still agree with it.
Richard
Yes, I still agree with it, the more you add the more I agree. One small correction, Felix Leiter wasn't in GE, I believe you are thinking of Jack Wade, played by Joe Don Baker.
As I previously stated, I am hoping for a more voluptuous actress along the lines of a Marilyn Monroe, Lucianna Paluzzi, Caterina Murino, no more skinny models.
I would also like more glamour, fancy hotels, casinos and exotic locations, less grittiness.
Would Christina Hendricks be the type you want in Bond films?
I stand corrected on GoldenEye, although Jack Wade essentially fills the shoes of Felix Leiter and is played as a buffoon by Joe Don Baker.
Personally, I want glamour and grittiness in equal portions; For Your Eyes Only and Licence to Kill, for example. Remember that fight on the train in FRWL? That was the grittiest fight ever filmed for well over a decade. Even in the 1970s, when FRWL went into re-release in the USA, it was grittier than most action scenes being filmed. Certainly it was grittier than anything in the Roger Moore films. Nor was it lacking glamour. FRWL even has discreet nudity, which might be a good idea to re-introduce into the series if only to counteract all the political correctness that undermines the last six Bond films.
I don't know about Christina Hendricks. Those red latex gloves worry me. But you have a point about avoiding angular stick models and greyhound types. There is a scene in Casino Royale where Le Chiffre's girlfriend gets out of the water, climbs on the boat, and crosses the frame. Play back the part where she crosses the frame. Note how a certain body type has been cast in the role to work against the male audience's expectations for curvacious women. The swimsuit accentuates her flat chest.
Under different circumstances, full-figured women like Catarino Murino and Olga Kuryenko (spelling) would be perfect. I thought Murino was under-used. She would have been at home in the 1960s Bonds. She actually resembles Fleming's description of Vesper more than Eva Green.
On the other hand, I wish Maud Adams had been been given better material, especially in Octopussy. She had real acting chops, was a big fan of the Bond films, and was absolutely fearless when it came to emotional and physical demands in front of the camera.
Richard
The top 7 Bond films: 1) Dr No. 2) From Russia With Love. 3) Thunderball. 4) On Her Majesty's Secret Service. 5) For Your Eyes Only. 6) The Living Daylights. 7) Licence to Kill.
I have to agree Catarino Murino was under used, she's stunningly beautiful. to quote Frank Drebbin
" she's the kind of woman who makes you want to fall on your knees and thank God your a Man!"
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
To start, an apology for the QOS opening song
A strong English opening...emphazise the cold, rainy, London enviornment. Remember M's office with the warm leather, woods, and naval paintings ?
Variety of locations. Remember how FYEO bounced between the snowy Alps and hot sunny Greece ?
Stop trying to cast Craig as McQueen. The airport run in CS and the Haiti hotel lobby scene in QOS were direct liftings of McQueen images. Bond is an English spy...He needs a little refinement and English snobbery.
Good hand to hand combat. Get Bond using boxing in a fight... Boxing is very English, and I can imagine Bond boxing in his University days. As much as everyone dislikes DAD, the fencing scene in a traditional English club is one of my favorite moments in the franchise. Again, put the English back in Bond...
A scary villian.....Drax in MR is my favorite Bond villian, I simply can't picture that dude smiling or being nice. Get someone like that.
Stop having Bond be so tender with chicks. The finger sucking in CR, and the gentle back kissing in QOS....enough already. Go watch a Connery film to see a proper "romantic " Bond.
Less electronic gadget help. Yeah I know that gadget's are a part of the franchise success, but they should never take away from the fact that Bond relies on his wits, not a circut board.
I have to agree Catarino Murino was under used, she's stunningly beautiful. to quote Frank Drebbin " she's the kind of woman who makes you want to fall on your knees and thank God your a Man!"
I have to agree Catarino Murino was under used, she's stunningly beautiful. to quote Frank Drebbin " she's the kind of woman who makes you want to fall on your knees and thank God your a Man!"
I have to agree Catarino Murino was under used, she's stunningly beautiful. to quote Frank Drebbin " she's the kind of woman who makes you want to fall on your knees and thank God your a Man!"
All right, we get the point.
You haven't seen nuthin' yet until you've watched Catarina in Garden of Eden (2008), John Irvin's adaptation of Ernest Hemingways's last, and posthumous, novel. It's about a young American writer in 1920s jazz-age Paris whose restless wife invites a mysterious Italian girl into their marriage. What a follows is a menage a trois evidently based on Hemingway's personal experiences. The film was trimmed and the ending changed so as not to frighten American audiences, but much of the explicit eroticism remains:
The European version has not yet been released on home video.
Ian Fleming would like this movie, and the book. The Bond films would benefit from the maturity of relationships on display here. The relationships in Fleming's novels are more mature than the films have portrayed them.
When I saw Garden of Eden I thought to myself, they should have cast Catarina as Vesper and brought the character back into line with the novel. It would have been amazing.
Richard
The top 7 Bond films: 1) Dr No. 2) From Russia With Love. 3) Thunderball. 4) On Her Majesty's Secret Service. 5) For Your Eyes Only. 6) The Living Daylights. 7) Licence to Kill.
I'd like to see a Bond film that wears a straight face without trying to pretend it's about real world affairs or the reality of espionage.
I'd like to see a Bond film which is witty without being comic.
I'd like to see violence brief and well directed without trying to convince us that this is how someone would really kill someone and it's really grim.
I'd like to see Bond as being a version of an adult world which couldn't possibly exist but which we can sort of half believe could if we don't think about it too much.
I'd Like to see the most beautiful women as either femme fatate killers, enjoyably intelligent and capable equals to Bond, or pure meaningless set decoration beauties.
I'd like to see Bond as a lean, athletic and suave rather than an overdeveloped meat-head he became in Casino Royale (Craig looked about to burst out of his tuxedo like the incredible Hulk - Connery was a body builder but he looked lean - Craig must have eaten a years supply of power bars and spent every waking moment in the gym only to look like an ape in a DJ).
I'd like to see a film that you think is being driven by a plot but in which that plot is actually a skeletal frame on which to hang masterful set pieces.
I'd like to see a Bond living in a world of dangerous glamour and strangely deformed and perverted villains. No traipsing around factories, oil refineries, gravel pits. In From Russia with Love even the Istanbul sewer looked designed by artists. At least they should try to pay some kind of hommage to the legacy of Ken Adam.
I'd like to hear a big brassy score that echoes some of the themes created by John Barry without insulting their memory.
I want to see Blofeld as the semi credible character he was in the novel Thunderball. The films don't have to follow Fleming too closely but it's a shame to ignore him completely.
I'd like to see Bond get the full backing of the ministry avoiding any of those loose cannon plots that even sullied some of the best films. He's always been a conservative figure with a penchant for hedonism.
Bond should smoke heavily. It may prove impossible in the current climate but making Bond a non smoker is like making him a virgin, a teetolar or a pacifist. It completely contradicts everything he is.
Moneypenny is M's secretary. Mary Goodnight is Bond's. As Richard says; they have no place on missions. M in the field is just ridiculous.
**** the reboot and any more references to events in Casino Royale. If this is the first Bond film someone sees it should not feel like part three of an ongoing story arc. It should stand alone completely.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,610Chief of Staff
And yet it has happened in many of the films...from Connery onwards...so I just don't get how you come to the conclusion that it's ridiculous ? Unless you think it's ALWAYS ridiculous ?
I would like to see a Bond film on the lines of from Russia with Love. The bad guys (maybe Quantnum) could set up a plan to capture Bond, and that would be the main plot. In casino Royale they make a huge emphasise on the fact that James Bond hasn't become himself yet (shaken or stirred, do i look like i give a damn). What if Mr bond had to impersonate a very wealthy man who was very posh. Someone had to teach him the fine arts like ordering martini's shaken, choosing fine music, saying last name first, and at the end of the movie he picks it up and keeps the skill.
“The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. "
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
CR gave the impression that Bond came from a working class/Blue collar background and has to be taught about the right wines, clothes etc. From reading the books I always think of Bond even as a child at his Public school having Port and Cigars after his Milk and cookies. )
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
I think Bond comes from a "good family", that is from an upper class family. But I imagine his family didn't have much money left and then he was orphaned at a young age.
I think the monologue from the novel CR about taking an interest in food when you travel a lot alone could be used in a future movie to show that side of him. The sophisticated side of should come more to the foreground, but he does not need to learn it!
I also want to Bond to start having guilt-less sex again. Bond should seduce women just for fun and the woman should survive the movie!
The next Bond movie should not be based mainly in central Europe. Locations that hasn't been covered very well or not at all in the past should be used: Indonesia, Malaysia, Libanon, Norway, China, Moscow and more.
Just want to see Bond have a little fun again, I'm sure guilt-less sex would count )
Obviously! Have you noticed that all 3 women Bond has slept with during DC's time has ended up dead?
The movies also need some larger, more showy stunts. It's been fifteen years since the last raid in a Bond film. That was also the last time the leading Bond girl was blonde, so a blonde is long overdue.
Just want to see Bond have a little fun again, I'm sure guilt-less sex would count )
Obviously! Have you noticed that all 3 women Bond has slept with during DC's time has ended up dead?
Has he slept with 3? I know Vesper and Fields, but I didn't think he slept with Solange, as I remember, it seemed like he left before anything actually occured, but it has been awhile since I saw CR, so I could be wrong.
It should be pointed out in Connery's time, Bond would sleep with 3 in one film. In TB he had some excellent conquests with Nurse Fearing, Volpe and Domino, all very sexy.
Personally I think the lack of sex is directly related to Babs taking over, she is more intersted in seeng Craig come walking out of the water than having a Ursula Andress type come out of the water.
You haven't seen nuthin' yet until you've watched Catarina in Garden of Eden (2008), John Irvin's adaptation of Ernest Hemingways's last, and posthumous, novel. It's about a young American writer in 1920s jazz-age Paris whose restless wife invites a mysterious Italian girl into their marriage. What a follows is a menage a trois evidently based on Hemingway's personal experiences. The film was trimmed and the ending changed so as not to frighten American audiences, but much of the explicit eroticism remains:
The European version has not yet been released on home video.
Ian Fleming would like this movie, and the book. The Bond films would benefit from the maturity of relationships on display here. The relationships in Fleming's novels are more mature than the films have portrayed them.
When I saw Garden of Eden I thought to myself, they should have cast Catarina as Vesper and brought the character back into line with the novel. It would have been amazing.
Richard
Added Garden of Eden to my watch list. Caterina is amazing with long or short hair. Few women can pull that off well.
Just want to see Bond have a little fun again, I'm sure guilt-less sex would count )
Obviously! Have you noticed that all 3 women Bond has slept with during DC's time has ended up dead?
Has he slept with 3? I know Vesper and Fields, but I didn't think he slept with Solange, as I remember, it seemed like he left before anything actually occured, but it has been awhile since I saw CR, so I could be wrong.
It should be pointed out in Connery's time, Bond would sleep with 3 in one film. In TB he had some excellent conquests with Nurse Fearing, Volpe and Domino, all very sexy.
Personally I think the lack of sex is directly related to Babs taking over, she is more intersted in seeng Craig come walking out of the water than having a Ursula Andress type come out of the water.
Yeah, once Bond got the information from Solange he was gone. Which I thought was one of the best scenes in the movie. He says "for one" on the food order and takes off with that cool music element.
I always thought Bond Ordered the food for one, because he was going to eat it on the plane himself after taking care of Solange, after splitting the bill for the drinks naturally. )
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
That's not asking for too much, is it?
How about the rest of you?
Richard
*** Now, now, Rich; you know that AJB isn't allowed to post EON-owned Bond images! HB
The top 7 Bond films: 1) Dr No. 2) From Russia With Love. 3) Thunderball. 4) On Her Majesty's Secret Service. 5) For Your Eyes Only. 6) The Living Daylights. 7) Licence to Kill.
Inclined to agree, but without harping on, Craig doesn't quite have the right look for that, though he can look handsome. Certainly a more glamorous poster than the last two can't be hard.
I'd love to see one poster done in an old style with the gun across the chest.Also it's about time a Bond villain had a pet/animal of some kind again, so far none of Craigs have had any pets the same with Brosnan's. You have to go back to LTK and Sanchez's Iguana. Before that only Yorgi,Kristatos and Scaramanga have not had any animal friends. I think it's about Time some Villain tried to Feed Bond to Something. If they go to South Africa mabey some Lions or Trained Monkeys with Razors, In Canada how about some Bears or Wolves, or some malajusted Kittens, as a Bolfeld tie in. )
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
Comments
Yes, me too! My favourites are from TSWLM and LALD. Maybe with the 50th anniversary there will be some sort of retro Bond additional posters/art work. I suspect it will be a collectors PARADISE when Bond 23 arrives.
I'm also throwing my support behind
- Liam Neeson as a villain... think he'd be a great one.
- Introducing the head of Quantum (not necessarily defeating him, but it'd be nice to finally see him).
- Middle Eastern setting. Doesn't have to be desertic, and they can't keep him out of the region forever (actually seems kind of silly when you consider how much Cold War subtext there was in the older Bonds).
- Tying up the loose end that is Guy Haines: I'm pretty sure they will do that, either as the main plot or as a segue into it.
Just so long as he doesn't do an American accent. Why producers keep casting him as American-born-and-reared is beyond me. . .
Well said.
Here is what I expect:
Here is what I want:
I want Judi Dench to shut up, stand down, and stay at the office. This condescending old shrew lingered too long at the dance. She's worn out her welcome. If she has three minutes on screen, it's too long.
I want literate and intelligent writing in the Ian Fleming / Richard Maibaum tradition freed from Barbara Broccoli's agenda. Get rid of amateur hack writers Purvis and Wade and hire a professional dramatist noted for his traditional dramatic accomplishments -- someone like Tom Stoppard, or a writer of his calibre.
The Bond films have always given us strong, independent, resourceful women, but don't let the female lead run away with the story. A Bond film isn't about M and it isn't about the girl he's involved with. She's important, yes, and she is to be treated fairly, but she doesn't get equal time. A Bond film is about James Bond on his mission.
Stop portraying James Bond as a callous, uncouth, unfeeling, mindless killing machine. That's wrong. James Bond is a gentleman and a Naval commander. Refined and reasonably well-educated at Eton. The son of a Scot and a Swiss mother who is raised in London. He is intelligent, thoughtful, observant, calculating, discerning, and knows spycraft. He has a moral compass and an inner decency even though he is a killer.
Implement espionage plots. ESPIONAGE. The act of spying.
Reinstate the gun barrel opening before the pre-title sequence.
Reinstate the traditional briefing in M's office.
Reinstate the James Bond Theme, or have the integrity to change all the names and call the hero by some other name.
An orchestrated title song performed by somebody with pipes. Somebody who can sing. Shirley Bassey preferred. No more nasal, scratchy punk-rock songs.
Suits, ties, tuxedos on the gentlemen.
Evening gowns, lingerie, and bikinis on the ladies.
Gambling and guns and all the ambiance thereof.
Let there be mood and atmosphere again.
Allow adult men and women to have a romantic / sexual adventure together without turning it into some kind of guilt trip they have to apologize for. No more "damaged goods" and no more "I'm so angry with myself" crap. Let them have fun. Women do have affairs and do go on adventures in real life. It's okay for the female characters to be attracted to Bond. Likewise, it's okay for Bond to enjoy women and to appreciate them, the way he used to.
No sci-fi / fantasy / superhuman / outer space stuff. Keep the story grounded in the plausible and in reality. Push it to the thin edge of surrealism and then pull back, the way Terrence Young and Peter Hunt did.
No slapstick / farce / self-ridicule / camp / comedy / nostalgia. Nobody wants to see kitsch in a Bond film. Don't give Austin Powers any more ammunition to destroy you with. A Bond film is an espionage-drama action-thriller, but find that delicate balance of tongue-in-cheek humor and self-deprecation that brought an added dimension to the originating Bond films. Keep it subtle and in check, like the originating films did.
No more of Bond behaving like an idiot and a child. No more excoriations from M. Six films of that is enough to make anybody sick. Give it a rest, for a change, will you.
Please! No more lectures on how to be a better man and a kinder, gentler spy. No bragging about how dangerous Bond is (no "I wouldn't be very good at my job if I cared" crap).
Stop breaking the fourth wall. Bond is not a celebrity. Bond is not a "famous" secret agent within the story. The notion of a "famous" secret agent is contradictory and ludicrous. A good example of this mistake is in Casino Royale when Bond violates his own cover, checking in at the hotel desk and saying "Bond traveling as Somerset." When Vesper asks why he would do such a stupid thing, he answers that they're going to find out his real name anyway, so why bother. This is tortured logic and amateur writing. Believe in the story you're telling, or go do something else.
Violence that bruises and bleeds and hurts. Antiseptic violence is obscene. When there is violence, make sure it arises naturally out of the story and make sure it counts.
Gadgets grounded in reality -- use gadgets like spice on your food, don't let them become the food or the story. The computerized desk and computerized wall in Quantum of Solace are grounded in reality, it wouldn't hurt to make them standard.
Sensible action that arises naturally out of the story. For example, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is set in a lab high up in the alps, so a ski chase is a reasonable thing to have. In Thunderball a jet carrying a nuclear warhead is hijacked and hidden in shallow water, so underwater scuba diving makes sense. We don't need to see Bond run up a high-rise under construction just because it's there. Don't let the stuntman run amok with outrageous stunts that call attention to themselves and make no story sense.
Reinstate "Bond, James Bond" along with the charming habits Ian Fleming invested him with, or have the integrity to change the name. Don't make a joke out of Bond's habits, and don't make a point out of them, just let them be there. I concede the necessity to eliminate smoking, but the rest of his habits should be restored. The early Bond films added the deadpan quip after a killing: restore that, too.
Bring back Q and Moneypenny and let them fill the same functions they did in Dr No and From Russia With Love. They stay back at the office. They lend support but are not the principle players.
Uphold the Broccoli-Saltzman principle that a Bond film should be directed by an Englishman and it should be an English-made film.
Dazzle us with a good story, dynamic action, appealing characters and exotic locations, glamour and grit in equal portions, but stop "jumping the shark." In other words, scale it down. No more overblown set pieces that call attention to themselves. This isn't Austin Powers.
Cast Europeans in the supporting roles and as female leads. No more airheaded American starlets.
Exotic European / Asian / South American locations. No more American settings.
No more putdowns of the American CIA.
Stop portraying Americans as buffoons; even Felix Leiter was used for comedy relief in GoldenEye.
Stop portraying American tourists for comedy relief.
Put Bond at risk in the field. He's on his own. Let him use his wits and stamina and intelligence to get out of trouble, or into it. Do this without making a point that you're doing it.
Keep dialogue straghtforward and simple. Less is more. Bond is not a chatterbox. Let him DO things without talking about them. Note how little dialogue Bond has in From Russia With Love. Note also how intently Sean Connery listens before he says anything. He's a good listener. And when he speaks, it is in blunt language matched with a steady gaze that holds the eyeline, and thereby, your attention.
Minimize the cell phone usage. The last thing we want is another 30 minutes of cell phone interaction like in Casino Royale, a film that had more talking than 40 years of Bond films combined.
No shaky camera and No hyper-fast editing. That's for Bourne, not Bond.
Richard
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I agree with every point you make, with the following exceptions.
I can do without Q, Desmond was Q, no one else can be Q. I would be OK with an armorer, or some other type character.
I have no problem with American locations, (don't think we have had that many) if it fits the story.
The actress can be from anywhere as long as she is a good actress and I would prefer someone with a body, not the slim model types we have had recently.
Failing that..........clone Sean Connery!
Richard
Yes, I still agree with it, the more you add the more I agree. One small correction, Felix Leiter wasn't in GE, I believe you are thinking of Jack Wade, played by Joe Don Baker.
As I previously stated, I am hoping for a more voluptuous actress along the lines of a Marilyn Monroe, Lucianna Paluzzi, Caterina Murino, no more skinny models.
I would also like more glamour, fancy hotels, casinos and exotic locations, less grittiness.
Would Christina Hendricks be the type you want in Bond films?
http://starcasm.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Christina_Hendricks_4.jpg?ggnoads
That might be a bit over the top, but, yes, that is the general idea. I like a woman with curves.
Personally, I want glamour and grittiness in equal portions; For Your Eyes Only and Licence to Kill, for example. Remember that fight on the train in FRWL? That was the grittiest fight ever filmed for well over a decade. Even in the 1970s, when FRWL went into re-release in the USA, it was grittier than most action scenes being filmed. Certainly it was grittier than anything in the Roger Moore films. Nor was it lacking glamour. FRWL even has discreet nudity, which might be a good idea to re-introduce into the series if only to counteract all the political correctness that undermines the last six Bond films.
I don't know about Christina Hendricks. Those red latex gloves worry me. But you have a point about avoiding angular stick models and greyhound types. There is a scene in Casino Royale where Le Chiffre's girlfriend gets out of the water, climbs on the boat, and crosses the frame. Play back the part where she crosses the frame. Note how a certain body type has been cast in the role to work against the male audience's expectations for curvacious women. The swimsuit accentuates her flat chest.
Under different circumstances, full-figured women like Catarino Murino and Olga Kuryenko (spelling) would be perfect. I thought Murino was under-used. She would have been at home in the 1960s Bonds. She actually resembles Fleming's description of Vesper more than Eva Green.
On the other hand, I wish Maud Adams had been been given better material, especially in Octopussy. She had real acting chops, was a big fan of the Bond films, and was absolutely fearless when it came to emotional and physical demands in front of the camera.
Richard
" she's the kind of woman who makes you want to fall on your knees and thank God your a Man!"
A strong English opening...emphazise the cold, rainy, London enviornment. Remember M's office with the warm leather, woods, and naval paintings ?
Variety of locations. Remember how FYEO bounced between the snowy Alps and hot sunny Greece ?
Stop trying to cast Craig as McQueen. The airport run in CS and the Haiti hotel lobby scene in QOS were direct liftings of McQueen images. Bond is an English spy...He needs a little refinement and English snobbery.
Good hand to hand combat. Get Bond using boxing in a fight... Boxing is very English, and I can imagine Bond boxing in his University days. As much as everyone dislikes DAD, the fencing scene in a traditional English club is one of my favorite moments in the franchise. Again, put the English back in Bond...
A scary villian.....Drax in MR is my favorite Bond villian, I simply can't picture that dude smiling or being nice. Get someone like that.
Stop having Bond be so tender with chicks. The finger sucking in CR, and the gentle back kissing in QOS....enough already. Go watch a Connery film to see a proper "romantic " Bond.
Less electronic gadget help. Yeah I know that gadget's are a part of the franchise success, but they should never take away from the fact that Bond relies on his wits, not a circut board.
You can say that again.
You can say that again.
All right, we get the point.
You haven't seen nuthin' yet until you've watched Catarina in Garden of Eden (2008), John Irvin's adaptation of Ernest Hemingways's last, and posthumous, novel. It's about a young American writer in 1920s jazz-age Paris whose restless wife invites a mysterious Italian girl into their marriage. What a follows is a menage a trois evidently based on Hemingway's personal experiences. The film was trimmed and the ending changed so as not to frighten American audiences, but much of the explicit eroticism remains:
The European version has not yet been released on home video.
Ian Fleming would like this movie, and the book. The Bond films would benefit from the maturity of relationships on display here. The relationships in Fleming's novels are more mature than the films have portrayed them.
When I saw Garden of Eden I thought to myself, they should have cast Catarina as Vesper and brought the character back into line with the novel. It would have been amazing.
Richard
I'd like to see a Bond film which is witty without being comic.
I'd like to see violence brief and well directed without trying to convince us that this is how someone would really kill someone and it's really grim.
I'd like to see Bond as being a version of an adult world which couldn't possibly exist but which we can sort of half believe could if we don't think about it too much.
I'd Like to see the most beautiful women as either femme fatate killers, enjoyably intelligent and capable equals to Bond, or pure meaningless set decoration beauties.
I'd like to see Bond as a lean, athletic and suave rather than an overdeveloped meat-head he became in Casino Royale (Craig looked about to burst out of his tuxedo like the incredible Hulk - Connery was a body builder but he looked lean - Craig must have eaten a years supply of power bars and spent every waking moment in the gym only to look like an ape in a DJ).
I'd like to see a film that you think is being driven by a plot but in which that plot is actually a skeletal frame on which to hang masterful set pieces.
I'd like to see a Bond living in a world of dangerous glamour and strangely deformed and perverted villains. No traipsing around factories, oil refineries, gravel pits. In From Russia with Love even the Istanbul sewer looked designed by artists. At least they should try to pay some kind of hommage to the legacy of Ken Adam.
I'd like to hear a big brassy score that echoes some of the themes created by John Barry without insulting their memory.
I want to see Blofeld as the semi credible character he was in the novel Thunderball. The films don't have to follow Fleming too closely but it's a shame to ignore him completely.
I'd like to see Bond get the full backing of the ministry avoiding any of those loose cannon plots that even sullied some of the best films. He's always been a conservative figure with a penchant for hedonism.
Bond should smoke heavily. It may prove impossible in the current climate but making Bond a non smoker is like making him a virgin, a teetolar or a pacifist. It completely contradicts everything he is.
Moneypenny is M's secretary. Mary Goodnight is Bond's. As Richard says; they have no place on missions. M in the field is just ridiculous.
**** the reboot and any more references to events in Casino Royale. If this is the first Bond film someone sees it should not feel like part three of an ongoing story arc. It should stand alone completely.
And yet it has happened in many of the films...from Connery onwards...so I just don't get how you come to the conclusion that it's ridiculous ?
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
I think the monologue from the novel CR about taking an interest in food when you travel a lot alone could be used in a future movie to show that side of him. The sophisticated side of should come more to the foreground, but he does not need to learn it!
The next Bond movie should not be based mainly in central Europe. Locations that hasn't been covered very well or not at all in the past should be used: Indonesia, Malaysia, Libanon, Norway, China, Moscow and more.
Obviously! Have you noticed that all 3 women Bond has slept with during DC's time has ended up dead?
The movies also need some larger, more showy stunts. It's been fifteen years since the last raid in a Bond film. That was also the last time the leading Bond girl was blonde, so a blonde is long overdue.
Has he slept with 3? I know Vesper and Fields, but I didn't think he slept with Solange, as I remember, it seemed like he left before anything actually occured, but it has been awhile since I saw CR, so I could be wrong.
It should be pointed out in Connery's time, Bond would sleep with 3 in one film. In TB he had some excellent conquests with Nurse Fearing, Volpe and Domino, all very sexy.
Personally I think the lack of sex is directly related to Babs taking over, she is more intersted in seeng Craig come walking out of the water than having a Ursula Andress type come out of the water.
" Oh, the things I do for England !"
Added Garden of Eden to my watch list. Caterina is amazing with long or short hair. Few women can pull that off well.
Yeah, once Bond got the information from Solange he was gone. Which I thought was one of the best scenes in the movie. He says "for one" on the food order and takes off with that cool music element.
I want a glamour banner for Bond 23.
I want glamour in the film and in the lobby.
You know, some of this:
http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a432/Richard--W/BondYOLT.jpg
http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a432/Richard--W/BondThunderball.jpg
http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a432/Richard--W/BondGoldfinger.jpg
http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a432/Richard--W/BondFromRussia.jpg
http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a432/Richard--W/BondDrNo.png
That's not asking for too much, is it?
How about the rest of you?
Richard
***
Now, now, Rich; you know that AJB isn't allowed to post EON-owned Bond images! HB
Roger Moore 1927-2017